Kings take commanding 3-0 lead against Rangers in Stanley Cup final

The Stanley Cup final made its much anticipated return to Broadway on Monday night with high hopes for rave reviews and an extended run.

Instead, after a 3-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings, it might not last past mid-week.

The heavily favoured Western Conference champions exerted their will — and the spectacular goaltending of Jonathan Quick — on the home-town Rangers and now are just a win away from their second title in three years.

“Everyone is talking about the shot difference, but that was more our style of game,” Kings captain Dustin Brown said.

“It’s not always fun to watch, but it works for us.”

This time, there were no two-goal deficits to track down, no overtime periods to sweat out and, ultimately, not much hope for a Rangers team that had been so game in California, but looks so done right now.

Yes, they had a 32-15 edge in shots, but that was laughable, really, with Quick channelling the form that won him the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP two years ago.

In particular, a brilliant series of stops in the second period — when the Rangers had 12 consecutive shots on net — essentially ended the night and, most likely, the series.

“He made some big saves, saves he had no business making,” Kings defenceman Drew Doughty said.

With the Kings holding a 3-0 stranglehold in the best-of-seven final, the Stanley Cup will be in the building on Wednesday, the same Madison Square Garden that had the life sucked out of it for the first Cup final game played here in 20 years.

Only one team in Cup history — the 1942 Maple Leafs — has overcome a 3-0 series deficit. Don’t expect the Rangers to join that club. After blowing two-goal leads in each of Games 1 and 2 and losing both in overtime, the show is quickly moving off Broadway.

The 32-save shutout was Quick’s second of these playoffs — he was just the second opposing goaltender to get a goose egg at MSG in the Cup final, joining Gerry Cheevers of the Boston Bruins in 1972.

There may have been some bad bounces on Monday — all three goals that beat Henrik Lundqvist had varying degrees of unfortunate luck. But the real gutting came with just 0.7 seconds left in the first period after a Jeff Carter wrist shot deflected off a Rangers defenceman and past Lundqvist.

“It has to be a crushing feeling for them when the puck goes in with less than a second left,” Doughty said. “That was a huge goal for us.”

When Jake Muzzin scored on a power-play wrister at 4:17 of the second — a shot that deflected off of New York forward Marty St. Louis — the Rangers were in deep trouble. And when they failed to connect on two power plays and that run of 12 consecutive shots, all hope was lost.

Mike Richards added a third goal late — unnecessary insurance for a Kings team that could now play the style it thrives on: Shut-down, grind-the-opposition-into-submission hockey.

“The way we play, it’s not the most exciting, it’s borderline boring,” said Kings forward Anze Kopitar. “But it seems like it’s been working in these playoffs.”

After a 3-1 series lead against Chicago in the Western Conference final disappeared and ultimately needing overtime in Game 7 to advance, the Kings know better than to look too far ahead. That said, they have never lost a playoff series that they have led 3-0 (4-0 all-time), while the Rangers are 0-13 when trailing 3-0.

As dominant as they can be defensively — especially with Quick up to his tricks — it may be the explosive side of the Kings that ultimately clinches the title.

On Monday, they scored a minimum of three goals for the ninth consecutive contest and are now averaging 3.50 per game, up more than a full goal-per-night than during the regular season.

And now a team that trailed the San Jose Sharks three games to zip in the first round — and, in the words of coach Darryl Sutter, was “thrown under the bus by everybody on earth” — is on the brink of the first Cup final sweep since 1998.

“I think it’s fair to say that anybody who’s not thinking about that going into the next game is not being honest,” Brown said.

“At the same time, we’ve had the ability not to look too far ahead.

“I think if you look at our game, we grind away and gradually take over games. We are a very good team when we get ahead.”

If only the Rangers could make the same claim, we might have a series with some life left in it.

Instead, it’s looking more and more that the dramatic win over the Blackhawks was the real battle for the Cup and this visit to the Big Apple was just a victory lap.

RANGERS BEMOAN LACK OF PUCK LUCK

Although he could probably look in the mirror for some answers, struggling New York Rangers centre Brad Richards was left scratching his head on Monday night.

“Not a bad first (period), not a bad second, and you’re down by three,” Richards said after his team was blanked 3-0 by the Los Angeles Kings.

“It’s hard to figure out sometimes, but that’s the fine line this time of year.

“They’re definitely getting some bounces.”

The bounces — and two Rangers blown leads in Los Angeles — have New York on the brink of being swept.

And as frustrating as those first two defeats were, Monday’s loss was tough to swallow as well, as the Kings became the first team to win a Cup final with 15 shots or fewer since Tampa Bay did it in 2004.

“You try to stay positive right now, but it’s really tough,” said Kings goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who managed just 12 saves on the night.

“At some point, we are going to need some puck luck, and we don’t have any right now.”